First Team Debuts

Milestones

DUMBARTON exited the William Hill Scottish Cup in the fourth round, with a 3-1 defeat against Hamilton Accies at the Bet Butler Stadium.

The tie was finally played on a Monday night after a series of postponements occasioned by a frozen pitch. It was the first game in charge for new Sons manager Ian Murray, and ended up being full of incident.

The Lanarkshire side deserved their win, thanks to a strong first half performance that saw two top quality goals effectively seal the victory.

Despite a bright start by Dumbarton, with players obviously keen to impress the gaffer, it was Hamilton who took the goal scoring initiative.

As the Accies began to gain control of the match in the middle of the park and press forward, they found far too much room in the final third and pressed the home side with sharp, angular passing moves.

In the early exchanges Hamilton's Alister Crawford brought out a good save from Dumbarton 'keeper Stephen Grindlay.

Then Gary Fisher broke through and struck a shot against the upright, which crashed into the ground before being cleared. It was a clear let-off.

On 24 minutes, Sons were not so fortunate. Danger man Crawford latched onto a ball after the Sons failed to clear their lines. He dug out superb 20-yard shot which gave the home goalie no chance, making it 1-0 to the visitors.

Dumbarton looked shell-shocked and tried to push back. But Accies were brimming with confidence and starting to dominate possession across the park.

For Sons, Garry Fleming tested Hamilton 'keeper Kevin Cuthbert from 12 yards just short of the half hour, but he pulled off a good save.

The Accies extended their lead to two goals following a neat passing move on 41 minutes.

Michael Devlin tried another well-struck long-range shot which went beyond Grindlay's reach to give Hamilton a 2-0 half-time lead. Jonathan Routledge almost made it three not long before the whistle went.

Sons came out looking much more determined after the break and began to put on a considerably improved display in the second period.

In the first ten minutes following the restart they enjoyed most of the possession and applied serious pressure to the Hamilton back line.

Free kicks by Scott Agnew and Chris Turner, and an inswinging corner from Mark Lamont, created half-chance opportunities for Sons in the box.

Then on 58 minutes Dumbarton were deservedly back in the game when Turner firmly headed home a well-aimed Lamont cross.

A couple of minutes later a drilled right-footed shot from 35 yards by Lamont forced another save out of Kevin Cuthbert.

On 64 minutes Accies' Alexander Neil cleared after a left-footed free kick from Agnew threatened an equaliser for Sons.

Stephen McDougall replaced Bryan Prunty for Sons on 71 minutes, as the home side tried to find a way through with Accies again taking control of the ball in the middle of the park.

Hamilton finally restored their two-goal advantage with 15 minutes to go, when substitute Grant Gillespie, who had replaced Fisher on 68 minutes, neatly chipped the onrushing Grindlay, with Andy Graham in close attention.

Sons' goal scorer Chris Turner then received a second yellow card after a tussle with Neil to put Sons down to ten men, much to the fury of the home support.

The closing minutes were marked by a further series of tense exchanges between the two sides.

With the extra man advantage, Hamilton Accies easily saw the game out to gain passage into the next round of the Cup competition.

New gaffer Ian Murray's verdict was that the performance before the break was not up to scratch.

“There were signs of hope in the second half. But if we play like we played in the first half, we will continue to get beaten,” he told reporters.